


Tale As Old As Time

by Ms_Mushrooms (ShinyRed)



Category: Sofia the First (Cartoon)
Genre: Beauty and the Beast AU, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Reader is a woman, Reader-Insert, Slow Build, Slow Burn, This is based HEAVILY off of the 1991 BATB with some 2017 BATB sprinkled in for flavor, idk if this is really considered "enemies"... but you can't stand each other at first
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:01:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28664367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShinyRed/pseuds/Ms_Mushrooms
Summary: Cedric the Sorcerer x reader Beauty and the Beast AUYou sacrifice yourself to become the prisoner of a beast and spend the rest of your days trapped in an enchanted castle. While there, you learn secrets about the castle, its inhabitants, and the beast himself, and you learn that you are the key to breaking a powerful curse. The only problem is that you don't know how, nobody will tell you, and time is running out before the curse becomes permanent.
Relationships: Cedric the Sorcerer/Reader, Grimtrix/Reader (one sided)
Kudos: 5





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Bonjour!
> 
> Have you ever just... watched a movie and immediately thought "I need to make this an AU, NOW." Because I did. And it's consumed my thoughts and gnawed at my nerves for weeks and wouldn't quit until I made *gestures to the fic below* this. So come, be my guest, and enjoy!

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a sorcerer lived in a shining castle, filled with the happiest staff and a kind and gentle royal family. Although he had everything his heart desired, the sorcerer was cold and unkind.

One winter's night, an unexpected intruder came to the castle, seeking shelter from the freezing winter storm. In return, she offered him a single rose. Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the sorcerer sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away, but she warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within. When he dismissed her again, the old woman revealed herself to be a powerful enchantress. The sorcerer tried to apologize but it was too late, for she had seen that there was no love in his heart, only selfishness and cruelty. As punishment, she revoked his magic powers and transformed him into a hideous beast, and placed a powerful spell on the castle.

The enchantress cursed the kingdom as well, erasing every citizen’s memory of all who lived and worked in the castle. With no one to come to their rescue, the only one who could break the spell was the sorcerer himself.

Ashamed of his monstrous form, the sorcerer concealed himself inside his tower, with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world. The rose the enchantress had offered him was magic, and would bloom for ten years. If he could learn to open his heart and love another, and earn their love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast forever. He scoffed at the curse, but as the years passed he fell into despair and lost all hope, for who could ever learn to love a beast?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You go about your day, everything just as normal as ever- until you're taken aback by a strange encounter... and then an even stranger one the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmao update in two days it is.
> 
> Hope I can keep this up <_<

Your eyes never look up from your book as you weave your way through the busy crowd in the village square. You know where to go, and your feet take you there while your eyes quickly dart over the pages, too engrossed in what Elizabeth would say to Mr. Darcy to watch where you were going. Although you’re focused on the story, you can still hear the hushed whispers that follow you. You tune them out, as usual, already aware that you were one of the town’s favorite subjects to gossip about. Besides, you’ve heard it all anyway.

By some miracle, you make it to the bookstore, and your eyes finally look up as you push the door open, inhaling the familiar scent of dust and old leather.

“Ah, I was wondering if I would be seeing you today!” the shopkeeper greets you with a smile. He eyes your book and chuckles, “How are you enjoying Jane Austen?”

“I love it,” you gush, “I couldn’t put it down!”

“So I noticed. You nearly took out the baker when you crossed the street.”

You smile sheepishly.

“So,” the shopkeeper continues, “have you come here to pick out a spare book? One you can go to when you need a break from the book you’re currently reading?”

“No, actually,” you laugh, “I finished this one last night. I was just rereading it to occupy myself on the way over here.”

The shopkeeper looks dumbfounded. “But… you checked it out yesterday.”

You shrug, “I had a lot of spare time yesterday. And it was really good, too, I mean, I nearly read through dinner. I would have, too, if my mother hadn’t scolded me for my poor table manners and made me put the book down.” Realizing how ridiculous you sounded, you trail off and clear your throat. “So, what other books do you recommend?”

-

Outside, two figures peek through the window to watch you. One of them, a tall, handsome man with a goatee, admires his reflection more than he watches you. The other, a shorter, chestnut haired man with a monocle, admires the taller man more than he watches you. But they both snap to attention when the door opens and you step outside, hefting an armful of books.

The taller man turns to the shorter man and smirks. “Watch and learn, Greylock.” He approaches you, matching your stride and walking alongside you with a flirtatious grin. “My my, aren’t we hooked on phonics?”

You stumble, startled by the sudden voice. “Grimtrix,” you greet him with a nervous smile, “always a pleasure.”

“Oh, you flatter me,” Grimtrix chuckles, ignoring your struggle to readjust your grip on your books. “Anyway, I was wondering if you would like to accompany me and my acquaintance to the tavern this evening? We’d just love to have your company.”

You look over to Greylock, who wiggles his fingers in a friendly wave. Looking back to Grimtrix, you try to come up with an excuse you haven’t used with him before. “Oh, well, I- I’d love to, but… My mother is expecting me home tonight. She needs my help with the, uh, something, or other…” you trail off into a mumble and hope he gets the hint.

Greylock laughs. “She needs help, all right,” he shouts, “someone with a comfy couch and a deep knowledge of Freud!”

You glower at Greylock, then at Grimtrix when he joins in the laughter. “My mother isn’t crazy, she’s a genius! And if you think I’m ever going to go anywhere with you after you make remarks like that, you’re greatly mistaken.” And with that, you turn on your heel and storm off, but you don’t make it far before Grimtrix runs out in front of you to stop you.

“Oh, come now, can’t you take a little joke? We didn’t mean anything by it.” Grimtrix gives you the most see-through puppy eyes you’ve ever seen. “And haven’t you reached the age where you should stop concerning yourself so much with your mother?”

You narrow your eyes at Grimtrix. “What do you mean?”

“Just that, well,” Grimtrix gestures as he finds the right words, “young ladies, especially ones as lovely as yourself, shouldn’t spend their time looking after their parents. They should be worried about starting a family of their own. After all, the window is only so big.”

You begin to seethe. “What window?”

“For settling down, having children,” Grimtrix says, as if it’s obvious. “A man doesn’t want an old spinster for a wife, he wants a pretty young girl, whose body is perfectly ripe for-”

“If you say one more word to me, I swear I’ll-” you hiss through your teeth, but your threat goes unfinished as you decide he isn’t worth the effort. The town already has enough to talk about when it comes to your behavior, you don’t want to add “publicly beheading Grimtrix in the town square” to their list. You turn and leave with a huff, not slowing down until the bustle of the crowd quiets down and you can see your house up ahead.

-

The house is quiet when you close the door behind you. You call out to your mother as you set your books down on the kitchen table, deciding to browse through them later. A faint call reaches your ears, and you follow the sound down to the basement, where all kinds of scraps and parts lay strewn about the floor.

“Watch your step,” your mother warns you before your foot can even touch the ground, “it may look like a mess, but I know where everything is, and if just one thing gets out of place I’ll lose my head trying to find it. Now, where did I put that hammer…?”

Laughing to yourself, you walk over to where you know she always puts it, shouting “catch,” as you toss it to her. She snatches it out of the air effortlessly and thanks you before resuming her tinkering.

“I got some new books today,” you say, leaning against the wall and watching your mother work, “I thought we could look through them sometime tonight, whenever you aren't busy." Your mother is always busy, so who knows when that will be.

“You know I’m not much of a reader,” your mother smiles at you, pushing her goggles up to her forehead and making her hair stick out in every direction, “but I’m always happy to spend time with my little girl.”

You laugh and roll your eyes. “Not _so_ little, you know.” Your smile fades into a grimace, “Not according to Grimtrix, anyway.”

“Oh boy,” your mother sighs, getting back to her work, “what did that chauvinist say to you this time?”

“Something rude and completely uncalled for, as usual.” Pushing yourself off of the wall, your hands gesture wildly as you rant. “He kept going on about how it was time for me to settle down, find a husband, have children, as if that’s any of his business. And then there was that horrible joke about-” you stop yourself, deciding against sharing the comments about your mother.

Your mother looks up, prompting you to go on.

“...He made a joke about how I was too old to be living with you.” It isn’t a complete lie, the implication had been quite clear.

Wiping her hands off on an old rag, your mother sighs and stands up, groaning as she stretches. “Well, to his credit, he’s not exactly wrong.” Leading you upstairs, she continues, “I’m well aware that most women your age are thinking about those things- the settling down, the children, all of it. I also know that you, my daughter who has followed in my stubborn and ambitious footsteps, have made your opinion on starting a family very clear.”

You follow your mother up the stairs, and you’re glad she can’t see your face. Anytime the topic of starting a family comes up, you tend to shy away from it, except for the time you begrudgingly admitted that, after losing your father, you had become afraid of finding love. Specifically, you were afraid of losing it. Since then, your mother has never bothered you about the subject, instead allowing you to go about things at your own pace, no matter what anyone says.

“But I worry,” your mother’s voice brings you back to reality, “that if you ever decide you want to find someone, that it’ll be too late. My apologies for sounding old fashioned, but the older you get, the smaller your selection becomes, and I don’t want you settling for whatever comes your way out of desperation.”

You sit down at the kitchen table and start flipping through the book at the top of the stack. “Trust me, I won’t settle.”

Your mother laughs, taking dishes out of the cupboard. “I know you won't, you're too picky for that. I always pictured you with someone tall, an absolute beast of a man.”

You wrinkle your nose. “Now all I can imagine is someone incredibly hairy, so, thank you for that,” you say sarcastically.

-

Over dinner, your mother shares that she’s been invited to show some of her inventions at a fair, and that she’ll be leaving the next morning. You’re overjoyed at the news, and you stay up all night with her to help pack her things and get the horse, Harnell, ready for her trip.

Waving goodbye with a yawn, you watch as she rides away, disappearing into the sunrise on the horizon. You head inside and close the door, eager to go upstairs and finally get some sleep when you hear a knock. Looking through a crack in the door, you recognize Grimtrix standing outside, and you slam your head against the door frame in aggravation. Plastering on a polite smile, you reluctantly open the door and greet him. “Good morning, Grimtrix.”

Grimtrix stops preening himself when he realizes the door is open and gives you a dashing smile. “It is, isn’t it? And I just know I’m going to make it even better in a minute.”

“How so?” you ask, dreading the answer.

Shouldering his way through the door and past you, he paces around the kitchen as he speaks. “I came here to apologize, actually. What I said to you yesterday, although factual, was unspeakably rude of me.”

“Oh,” you say, taken aback by his apology, “wow, um. Thank you. I appreciate-”

“Which is why I’ve come here to offer a solution to your problem, rather than continue to badger you about it.”

Ah, there it is. You should have guessed. “What solution could you possibly have for my ‘problem,’ Grimtrix?”

The smile he gives you makes you regret that you asked. “I’m more than willing to take your hand in marriage. Matter of fact, I’d be delighted to. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t considered the possibility,” Grimtrix steps closer, “and I’d be an even bigger liar if I said I didn’t relish the thought.”

Thoroughly creeped out, you back away from Grimtrix, moving so that the kitchen table is between the two of you.

“Just picture it," Grimtrix says, "a secluded cottage out in the woods, my hunting trophies hanging over the fireplace, and our little ones running around and playing with the dogs. We’ll have six or seven, at least.”

“Dogs?” you say, knowing you’re wrong.

“No no,” Grimtrix chuckles condescendingly, “strong boys, like me! And if we have some girls, they’ll be as beautiful as their mother. But I’m hoping for boys, aren’t you?”

You laugh, unsure of what to say. Actually, you can think of several things to say, but you’re trying to be polite, so you can’t use any of them.

Grimtrix circles the table when you’re not paying attention and stands in front of you, clasping your hands in his and getting down on one knee. “I know this is all sudden, and I do apologize, but I know how exciting the prospect of starting a family is for a woman, so I wanted to help you get started right away. Will you allow me to do you the great honor of taking your hand and making you my wife?”

“Ohhh boy,” you sigh, “I-I don’t know what to say…”

“Say you’ll marry me,” Grimtrix says charmingly, smiling up at you. “You’re the most beautiful girl in the village, and I would be honored to have you as my bride. We’ll be the talk of the town. Everyone knows that beautiful people belong together, and it would be an awful shame to watch you forced to settle for anything less than what you deserve… _me_.”

Flattered, but mostly disgusted, you slip your hands out of Grimtrix’s and back away slowly. “I’m sorry,” you weren’t, really, “but my answer is no.”

Grimtrix takes a moment to process what you said. “You’re serious?”

You nod, walking over and opening the door in a very obvious hint for him to leave. “I know you’re not used to women rejecting you, so I understand that this may be difficult for you to process. No hard feelings, I hope?” You give him a wide smile as you subtly gesture to the door.

Without another word, Grimtrix stands and walks out, glaring at you as he does so.

Unbothered by his anger, you hastily shut the door and lock it, wedging a chair underneath the handle for good measure before going upstairs to finally get some sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, writing Grimtrix as Gaston was way more fun than it should have been. I was considering Greylock for the part, but he seemed much more fit for the part of the sidekick, in my opinion.

**Author's Note:**

> Forgot to mention that updates are going to be sporadic, at best, rare at worst. I'm not good at keeping a consistent update schedule, so an update could come in two days or it could come in two months. Here's hoping for the former.


End file.
